Workpage 1 - As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes LOTS 1) Who is the speaker in the poem? ____________________________________________________________________________ 2) What does the speaker remember about his childhood? ____________________________________________________________________________ 3) What has changed since then? ____________________________________________________________________________ 4) The speaker mentions his hands. What do his hands do? ____________________________________________________________________________ 5) The poem has 3 clear time frames. What are they? Explain what happens in each time frame in the chart below.
6) “Bright like the sun”, what does the speaker compare to the sun? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 7) What prevented the speaker from seeing his dream? ________________________________________________________________________________________ 8) What happens to the speaker after realizing a wall rose between him and his dream? ________________________________________________________________________________________ 9) What is going to help him change the situation? _________________________________________________________________________________________ 10) How are they going to help him? ________________________________________________________________________________________ Vocabulary - a) Find a word with the same or opposite meaning in the poem 1) increased in size ____________________________ 5) strike with a heavy blow ______________________ 2) not remembered ________________________ 6) over ___________________________ 3) escape from _______________________ 7) מסחרר _________________________ 4) opp. of light ______________________ 8) destroy _________________________ b) Now write a sentence of your own for each of the words _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Workpage 2 - As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes A. Literary Terms Symbolism A symbol is a concrete object that also represents an idea or a concept. For example: A rose symbolizes love A dove symbolizes peace.
A. In the poem, there are objects that also act as symbols. Explain what each one represents. a) sun: ……………………………………………………………………………. b) the wall:………………………………………………………………………… c) shadow: ……………………………………………………………………….. d) dark hands: ……………………………………………………………………
B. What do light and darkness symbolize in the poem? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________
Metaphor A metaphor is a type of comparison in which one thing is described as if it were something else but without using the words "like" or "as". For example: Life isn't a bed of roses. C) What do you think the wall really represents? ( Remember the poet was African American) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Simile An image used to show how 2 different things compare to each other (use of "like" or "as"). For example: As sweet as sugar D) Which simile does Langston Hughes use in the poem: ___________________________________ Tone The tone expresses an attitude through the choice of tp[ic or words. A writer's tone can be angry, serious, humorous, ironic, cynical, regretful, mysterious, formal. Informal etc. D. What is the tone of the poem and how does it change. Explain and support your answer with at least 3 examples from the poem. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Workpage 3 - As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes HOTS Questions 1. How does the speaker remember his childhood? __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. In which points of the poem does the speaker’s mood change? _________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. How is racial discrimination reflected in the poem? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. According to the poem, can anything be done against racial discrimination? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. “My dark hands!” What is the significance of the dark hands in the poem? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. The poem is both optimistic and pessimistic. Explain. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Explain the meaning of the title of the poem. ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. The poet uses four symbols in the poem. What are they? Explain their significance. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. What is the message of the poem? __________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Workpage 4 - As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes B. Extended HOTS Questions 1. What was the reason for the first change in the speaker’s mood? How did this change affect him? Thinking Skill I chose: ____________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. How does the speaker’s world view change towards the end of the poem? Thinking skill I chose: ___________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Why does the speaker say “I am black”? Thinking skill I chose: ___________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Bridging task Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was a famous African –American poet who lived during a time of world wide racial oppression against black people. Growing up was a painful process, in the course of which childhood dreams were shattered. He was involved in the civil rights movement which was led by Dr. Martin Luther King and he wrote protest poetry. Until the end of the American Civil War (1865) African Americans were held as slaves. But even after they were freed, they were not treated as equals. They could not eat or study in the same places, or even sit next to a white person on the bus. This went on until they began fighting for equal rights nearly one hundred years later. Hughes wrote his poetry when his fellow brothers and sisters were still being heavily oppressed and discriminated against in the south. Through his writing, he believed that African Americans could challenge racial stereotypes and bring about racial equality. How is the information above reflected in the poem " As I Grew Older?" _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
